Exploring Zenobia's World. The Incredible Rise and Fall of the City of Palmyra

18 March 2008

Siamese are True Snobs, Persians not

Finally, a little cat blogging.

Domestic cats around the world can trace their origins back to the Near East's Fertile Crescent -- the belt of land stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf -- and from there, ex oriente lux: cats were transported around the world by humans. Long identified as the 'cradle of civilisation' for our 2-legged species, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have concluded that ancestral roads for all 600 million modern day pussy cats also lead back to the same locale.

Wheat, rye and barley had been domesticated in the Near East by 10,000 years ago. Undoubtedly, the granaries of early farming villages harboured mice and rats and other succulent feline food. Cats found good hunting there, and early settlers surely appreciated the little predators' help protecting their stocks.

Domesticated but never fully tamed

Unlike other domestic animals, which were tamed by people, cats probably domesticated themselves, which explains a lot about the haughty independence of their modern descendants. Get down from your pedestal, people! The push for domestication probably came from the cat side, not the human side. And they've been rubbing it in ever since.

"Cats are not as domestic as you might think," says Leslie Lyons, veterinary genetics researcher and team leader at UC, Davis. "They are probably allowing you to live with them, not the other way around."

I couldn't agree more.

The Mother (or maybe Dad) of All House Cats

The earliest archaeological evidence of cat domestication dates back 9,500 years, when cats lived alongside humans in settlement sites on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus off the coast of Anatolia (modern Turkey).

The carefully interred remains of a 30-years old human and a cat were found buried together in close proximity (just 40 cm [16 inches] apart) with seashells, polished stones, and other decorative artifacts in a 9,500-year-old grave site in Cyprus. This is the only burial with such a high number of offerings for the whole early Neolithic in Cyprus. The 8-month old cat is entirely intact, either a part of the wealth accompanying the dead person (man or woman, we don't know) or an honoured friend.

THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS

After tracing the movement of cats and their gene pools through the ancient world, the UC Davis research team focused on measuring changes in genetic diversity as cats went on caravans and sailed to every part of the globe.

Unlike other domesticated species, there has been little effort to improve (?!?) on the cat for functional purposes, so most modern-day cats are quite genetically close to their ancestors. Breed development, such as it's been, has been driven more by preferences for certain aesthetic qualities like coat colour and colour patterns.

Of today's 50 recognized cat breeds, 16 are thought to be "natural breeds" that occurred in specific regions, while the remaining breeds were developed during the past 50 years.

Brave "above and beyond the call of duty"

The researchers collected samples of cheek cells from more than 11,000 Persians, Siamese, street cats and household tabbies around the world. If you've ever given pills to your own moggie, you have to admire the team's dedication, poking behind the whiskers of more than 11,000 cats to swab inside their mouths.

These cats represented 17 populations of randomly bred cats from Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as 22 recognized breeds. Genetic markers , commonly used for DNA profiling, were used to determine the genetic relationships of cat breeds.

The twists and turns of feline travels have resulted in four broad groups -- with genetic recognition trophies going to cats from Europe, the Mediterranean basin, East Africa, and Asia. But when researchers examined the genes of what are thought to be distinct breeds, they were unable to find significant differences among many of them.

"An example would be Persian and exotic shorthairs," said Dr Lyons. "When you look at those two breeds, you can't distinguish them from one from another. Breeds look very different because of variations in a single gene, which is not enough to distinguish them genetically."

The Naming of Cats is a Difficult Matter

The most surprising discovery is that some breeds do not come from what was thought to be their geographical homeland.

The Japanese bobtail, for example, does not seem genetically similar to cats from Japan, indicating the breed may have originated elsewhere.

Maine coone and American shorthair -- two breeds that originated in the United States -- were genetically similar to the seven Western European breeds. This suggests that the cats were brought to the New World by European settlers and have not had time to develop significant genetic differentiation from their Western European ancestors.

Despite its name, the Persian, perhaps the oldest recognized pure breed, looks as though it actually arose in Western Europe and not Persia (modern Iran). “We would have expected Persians to be more Mediterranean, perhaps more like the Israeli or Turkish cats,” said Lyons, who explained that Persian cats instead “seem more western.” I don't think Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be pleased with that.

But genes aren't everything.

It should still be possible to recognize a Persian cat (left), according to a blogger who has circulated this picture on the internet.*

Siamese, Burmese and Korats, on the contrary, all show ancestral connections with southeast Asian cats. Let's hear it for the Siamese! Dr Lyons does not try to explain why Siamese are such noisy talkers (though she has tried her hand at why cats purr). If she'd like to come to my house and swab the cheeks of my three Siamese (Myrtis, Tanit aka Roughneck, and Wawet), I'm sure they'll try to tell her their names, loud and insistently, until they think she understands.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,The reason, I tell you, is always the same:His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplationOf the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:His ineffable effableEffanineffableDeep and inscrutable singular Name.

It feels as if a surprise gift was given to me today with this post (the information is of course vital to know and the photo, sublime!).

A gift too, to find your blog - first time I've come across it (by googling a blog titled "Today is the Day" (http://istheday.blogspot.com/). That search led to your "Talk like a Physicist" post (which is also excellent as it mentions toast, one of my favorite things).

Side note of Zenobia(s) - I've had the pleasure to hear the Zenobia from Virginia Tech speak, and must say that she is one of the more impressive speakers I've ever had the pleasure to hear - easily imagined to be as powerful as an Empress in re-incarnation (naturally the fact that a university is her venue smooshes the potential for what one could really see shown in prowess but nevermind).

fantasy on a theme by Gibbon. When he visited the Queen in her palace at midnigh, who was the conqueror. Did he celebrate his victory like Alexander upon the prostrate body of the Persian boy Hephastion; or was the great General fallen, bowed by the weight of golden chains.

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About Me

I studied Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford (M.Litt.) and am a member of the British School at Athens. I excavated for many years on Crete and on the Greek mainland and travelled extensively in the Middle East. I have lived and worked among the ruins of the three great Caravan Cities: Petra, Palmyra, and Baalbek. It was at Palmyra in Syria that I began to tell the story of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, and the rebellion that she led against imperial Rome. I was living within the grounds of the Temple of Bel, and at night, when the great gates of the temple were shut, I came closer to the spirit of the time and place than probably anyone has ever done before. I know that I felt very close to Zenobia, which made the book a joy for me to write.

IS THIS ZENOBIA'S REAL PORTRAIT?

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These are five blogs I enjoy reading the most, and without which life would be less interesting for me: David Meadows' Rogue Classicism is my number one go-to blog.... My second choice is Judith Weingarten's Zenobia - she covers strong ancient women, not just Zenobia, and since these warrior women are the subject of my next book, I love her lengthy well-researched posts. PHDiva"Judith Weingarten, author of The Chronicle of Zenobia: The Rebel Queen writes about gods, kings, war and chivalry here. Written with pace and verve it is a fantastic and exciting analysis."Mike @ Official Osprey Publishing Blog

"I really find Judith Weingarten’s blog to be excellent, and really worth any attention it can get." Thadd @ Archeoporn

"Short and spot on - it is an excellent piece of writing."Alun @ Clioaudio

"Judith's blog, Zenobia: Empress of the East is a treasure trove of insights into early history, but also the explorers, scholars and archaeologists who uncovered the ancient world."Martin@The Lay Scientist